Cutting device having means responsive to the product to disengage work-feed



May 18, 1965 F. w. WILSHIN ETAL CUTTING DEVICE HAVING MEANS RESPONSIVE TO THE PRODUCT TO DISENGAGE WORK-FEED 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 15, 1963 y 18, 1965 F. w. WILSHIN ETAL 3,183,748

CUTTING DEVICE HAVING MEANS RESPONSIVE TO THE PRODUCT TO DISENGAGE WORK-FEED Filed Feb. 15, 1963 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 I I I I I I I l I l I I l I I l l I l I I I I I I l l I I y 1965 F. w. WILSHIN ETAL 4 CUTTING DEVICE HAVING MEANS RESPONSIVE TO THE PRODUCT TO DISENGAGE WORK-FEED Filed Feb. 13, 1963 3 ShGGtS-Sht 5 United States Patent 0 3,183,748 CUTTING DEVICE HAVEJG MEANS RESPONSHVE T0 THE PRGDUCT T0 BEEN-GAGE WQRK-FEED Frank William Wiishin, Thornton Heath, Surrey, Jack Frederick Brown, Addington, Surrey, and Hugh Robert Waring Marsh, Esher, Surrey, England, assignors t0 Masson Scott & Co. Limited, dummerstown, London, England Filed Feb. 13, 1963, Ser. No. 258,246 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Feb. 22, 1962, 6,979/ 62 8 Claims. (CI. 83-61) This invention relates to apparatus for handling sheet material, i.e. material in the form of separate sheets, and in particular to apparatus for handling a stream of discrete sheets of material such as paper or board. The invention has an important application in paper and board cutting machinery but is not restricted thereto.

In sheet-handling machinery there is always a danger that the sheets of material will jam in the machinery, e.g. because they are running askew or because of torn or bent edges and corners. In high speed machinery such as a modern rotary paper-cutting machine or conveyor, such a jam will rapidly involve a large amount of material which may damage the machinery and take a long time to clear, leading to loss of production.

Automatic stop and overload-release mechanisms are known but these tend to be delicate in operation and adjustment and of limited applicability. In particular, rotary cutting machinery of the known type in which two coacting drum-mounted knives rotate at a speed which varies during each revolution, so that the knives move at the speed of the material while cutting it but move faster or slower between cuts to provide a desired length of cut sheet, imposes very heavy instantaneous loads on its drive mechanism during normal running. Consequently it is very diflicult to fit an overload device which would disconnect the drive when material jams between the knives, since such a device would tend to operate during normal running, on account of the repeated accelerations of the drums and consequent high instantaneous torques. However a jam would rapidly increase the load on the drive until failure occurred.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide improvide means for automatically stopping the flow of sheet material if a jam occurs. A further object is to improve accessibility to a jam which has occurred.

According to the invention, we provide in apparatus for handling a stream of sheet material, a guide member for the sheets which guide member is mounted so as to be defiectable in the event of a jam, such deflection causing the stream to stop.

Conveniently the guide member is a pivotable plate over which the stream passes on its way from a first to a second conveying means, and pivoting of the plate causes the first conveying means to be stopped. This arrangement is particularly advantageous where the first conveying means is a pair of feed rolls and where the plate is just downstream of the knives of a rotary cutter. In the case of feed rolls it may be best to separate the rolls to prevent their drawing more material as soon as possible after the jam.

Preferably the plate swings from a pivot arranged transversely above, or if more convenient below, the stream of material, so that the plate can swing bodily in the direction of motion of the stream. In order to improve access to a jam, it may be desirable to arrange that the pivot itself is movable, for example by mounting it in a pivoted side plate. H p

The invention will now be more fully described by way of example'only with reference to the accompanying draw- 3,183,74 Fatented May 18, 1965 ings, which illustrate the invention as applied to a rotary paper or board cutting machine. In these drawings:

FIG. 1 shows a general view of a rotary cutter installation,

FIG. 2 shows on a larger scale the cutter and the device according to the invention, in normal operating position,

FIG. 3 is a view corresponding to FIG. 2 but showing the guide member moved away from the cutting knives and the cutter stopped.

As shown in FIG. 1, a web W of paper or board to be cut is drawn from a reel 1 by a pair of feed rolls 2 and 3 and fed between two coacting rotary knife drums 4 and 5. The feed rolls and knife drums are driven by a motor or motors which are not shown in the drawings. The knife drums, as is usual, are driven through a cyclic transmission mechanism which varies the drum speed during each revolution so that the knives move at the same speed as the web W while cutting the latter but at a higher or lower speed between cuts so as to produce a desired interval between successive cuts and consequently a desired length of cut sheet. The cut sheets issuing from the knives are removed by a conveyor system 6 which drops them on a stack 7.

It should of course be understood that the source of the web need not be a reel nor the destination of the sheets a stack.

Reference will now be made to FIGS. 2 and 3, which show, diagrammatically, details of the rotary cutter.

Of the feed rolls, the lower roll 2 is fixed while the upper roll 3 is journalled between pivoted cranks or levers 8 (only one being shown). A pneumatic or hydraulic jack 9 connected between each crank 8 and the frame 10 (see FIG. 1) or" the cutter enables the upper roll 3 to be pressed against lower roll 2 so as to draw web W between the rolls or to be raised from roll 2 so as to stop feeding of web W. Compressed air or hydraulic fluid is fed to the jacks 9 through pipes 11 under the control of a solenoid-operated reversing valve 12.

From the feed rolls the web is fed between rotating drums 4, 5 in which are set coacting radial knife blades 13, 14 which cut the web transversely into sheets. The material issuing from between drums 4, 5 is guided by a guide plate 15 into conveyor 5 which consists of upper and lower tapes 6 between which the cut sheets are carried away.

Guide plate 15 is attached to a supporting arm 16 which is pivoted on a transverse pivot 17, so that the guide plate is suspended from the pivot. Arm 16 is extended at 16 and the extension is normally held by a spring 18 fixed at 18' against an adjustable stop 19 so that plate 15, as shown in FIG. 2, serves to guide the material between conveyor tapes 6.

Adjacent to the arm extension 16' is a microswitch 20 whose operating button or lever touches extension 16', so that anticlockwise rotation of arm 16 on pivot 17 (as seen in FIG. 2) actuates the switch. Switch 2% controls the solenoid 12 which operates valve 12 and actuation of switch causes the valve connections to be reversed.

The reversal of the valve connections causes jacks 9 to raise cranks S and thus to raise roll 3 away from roll 2 as shown in FIG. 3. The feed of web W to the knives is thus immediately stopped on actuation of switch 20. Conveniently switch 20 is normally closed and is connected in series with the power supply to the solenoid, switch 20 being opened by rotation of arm 16; such an arrangement will fail safe.

At the same time as roll 3 is raised the drive to the rolls and knife drums should be cutoff. This can be done, for example, by means of a further switch (not shown) actuated by the arm 16 or extension 16, or by means of a relay in the circuit of switch 2t) which relay cuts otf the drive on actuation of switch 20; the rotating parts then 3 come to rest in their own time, but since the feed has stopped no damage can result.

The described arrangement operates as follows. When material is flowing smoothly through the cutter and onto conveyor 6, guide plate 15 is held by spring 18 against stop 19 and guides the material across the gap between the knives and the conveyor. When a jam occurs in the flow of material it causes the material to press on the plate 15 and especially against the leading edge 15 of the plate, thus pushing the plate in the direction of flow of the material. This causes arm 16 to turn on pivot 17 against the action of spring 18 so that switch 20 is actuatcd. Actuation of switch 20 operates solenoid 12 to reverse the connections of valve 12, and the supply of air or hydraulic fluid to jacks 9 is reversed so that they raise roll 3 away from roll 2, thus stopping the flow of material to the knives. At the same time the drive to the cutter is stopped as mentioned above.

To facilitate the clearing of a jam, the pivot 17, spring 18, stop 19, switch 20 and the guide rolls 6" of conveyor tapes 6 are all mounted between a pair of side plates 21 which are rotatable about a transverse pivot 22 mounted in the cutter frame 10. The side plates are normally in the position shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 but can be tilted away from the knife drums by pneumatic or hydraulic jacks 23 to the position shown in FIG. 3, thus making access to the knife drums relatively easy.

' It will be seen that the invention provides a simple, robust and convenient means for stopping the flow of material on occurrence of a jam, thus preventing the jam from increasing in size and causing serious damage to the machinery, and moreover the invention provides that access to such a jam is greatly improved and delays caused by a jam are thus reduced.

It is to be understood that the above description is purely illustrative and that the scope of the invention is defined solely bythe appended claims.

We claim:

1. In apparatus for transversely cutting paper and board material into successive sheets and comprising two coacting rotary knives arranged to out transverselymaterial ted thereto to divide same into successive sheets, feed means for feeding said material to said knives, and a guide plate immediately downstream of said knives for receiving and guiding sheetsissuing from said knives, said guide plate beingtraversed by said sheets issuing from said knives and having a leading edge closely adjacent to said knives, the improvement comprising a transverse pivot means, means supporting said guide plate from said pivot means, said guide plate having a normal position in which said leading edges lies below the normal path of said sheets issuing from said knives and being movable away from fed thereto to divide same info successive sheets, feed means for feeding said material to said knives; and a guide plateimmediately downstream of said knives for receiving and guiding sheets issuing from said knives, said guide plate'beingtraversed by 'said sheets issuing from said knives and having a leading edge closely adjacent to said knives, the improvement comprising a transverse pivot means arranged above the guide plate, an arm suspending said guide plate from said pivot means, said guide plate tion in a downstream direction by pivoting of said arm about said pivot means, means resiliently biasing said guide plate into said normal position, adjustable stop means co-operating with said arm to define said normal position, and a control system for said feed means, said control system including an element responsive to movement of said arm consequent on movement of said guide plate away from said normal position and arranged to disengage saidfeed means on occurrence of such movement.

3. In apparatus for transversely cutting paper and board material into successive sheets and comprising two coacting rotary knives arranged to cut transversely material fed thereto to divide same into successive sheets, two co-operating feeding rollers between which said material passes for feeding said material to said knives, means for separating said rollers, and a guide plate immediately downstream of said knives for receiving and guiding sheets issuing from said knives said guide plate being traversed by said sheets issuing from said knives and having a leading edge closely adjacent to said knives, the improvement comprising a transverse pivot means, means supporting said guide plate from said pivot means, said guide plate having a normal position in which said leading edge lines below the normal path of said sheets issuing from said knives and being movable away from said normal position in a downstream direction by pivoting about said pivot means, means biasing said guide plate into said normal position, and a control system for said separating means, said control system including an element responsive to movement of said guide plate away from said normal position and operatively related with said separating means to actuate said separating means to separate said feeding rollers on occurrence of such movement away from said normal position.

4. In apparatus for transversely cutting paper and board material into successive sheets and comprising two coacting rotary knives arranged to cut transversely material fed thereto divide the same into successive sheets, two co-operating feeding rollers between which said material passes for feeding said material to said knives, a fluidoperated jack for separating said rollers, means for supplying fluid to said jack, and a guide plate immediately downstream of said knives for receiving and guiding sheets issuing from said knives, said guide plate being traversed by said material issuing from said knives and having a leading edge closely adjacent to said knives, the improvement comprising a transverse pivot means, means supporting said guide plate from said pivot means, said guide plate having a normal position in which said lead- 7 ing edge lies below the normal path of said sheets issuing ment of said guide plate away from said normal position,

' to actuatesaid valve means whereby said jack separates said feeding rollers on occurrence of such last-mentioned movement of said guide plate.

5. In apparatus for transversely cutting paper and board material into'successive sheets and comprising two coacting rotary knives arranged to cut transversely material fed thereto to divide same into successive sheets, two co-operating feeding rollers between which said material passes for feeding said material to said knives, a fluidioperated jack for, urging together and separating said rollers, means for supplying fluid to and returning it from having a normal position in which said leading edge lies 1 bclowrthe normal path of said sheets issuingfrom said knives and being movable away from-said normal posisaid jack and a guide plate immediately downstream'of said knives for receiving and guiding sheets issuing from :said knives, said guide plate'being traversed by said sheets issuing from said knives and having a leading edge closely adjacent to said knives, the improvement comprising a transverse pivot means mounted above said guide plate, an arm suspending said guide plate from said pivot means, said guide plate having a normal position in which said leading edge lies below the normal path of said sheets issuing from said knives and being movable away from said normal position in a dovmstream direction by pivoting of said arm about said pivot means, spring means acting on said arm to bias said guide plate into said normal position, an adjustable stop bearing on said arm for defining said normal position, a reversing valve for reversing the supply of operating fluid to said jack, an operating solenoid for said valve and electrical switch means controlling said solenoid and operable to be actuated by said arm on movement of said guide plate away from said normal position, said valve and switch means being so arranged that on actuation of said switch means by said arm, said solenoid operates said valve to reverse the supply of operating iluid to said jack whereby said jack separates said feeding rollers.

6. Apparatus according to claim 5 and further including a controllably pivotally mounted supporting member for movement towards and away from said rotary knives and supporting all of said pivot means, spring means, stop, and switch means.

7. In apparatus for transversely cutting paper and board material into successive sheets and comprising two coacting rotary knives arranged to cut transversely material fed thereto to divide same into successive sheets, feed means for feeding said material to said knives, and a guide plate immediately downstream of said knives for receiving and guiding sheets issuing from said knives, said guide plate being traversed by said material issuing from said knives and having a leading edge closely adjacent to said knives, the improvement comprising means mounting said guide plate for movement between a normal position in which said leading edge lies below the normal path of said material issuing from said knives and a position downstream of said normal position, means biasing said guide plate into said normal position, and a control system for said feed means, said control system including an element responsive to said movement of said guide plate away from said normal position and operably related with said feed means to disengage said feed means on occurrence of such movement.

8. in apparatus for transversely cutting paper and board material into successive sheets and comprising two coacting rotary knives arranged to cut transversely material ted thereto to divide same into successive sheets, feed means for feeding said material to said knives, conveying means spaced from said knives for conveying cut sheets, and a guide plate immediately downstream of said knives and in advance of said conveying means for bridging the space between said knives and conveying means and for receiving and guiding sheets issuing from said knives to said conveying means, said guide plates being traversed by said sheets issuing from said knives and having a leading edge closely adjacent to said knives, transverse pivot means, means supporting said guide plate from said pivot means, said guide plate having a normal position in which said leading edge lies below the normal path of said sheets issuing from said knives and being movable away from said normal posit-ion in a downstream direction by pivoting about said pivot means, means biasing said guide plate into said normal position, and a control system for said feed means, said control system including an element responsive to movement of said guide plate away from said normal position and operatively related with said feed means to disengage said feed means on occurrence of such movement.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 939,571 11/09 Van Wormer 83-64 1,426,980 8/22 Gitzendanner 27156 1,642,422 9/27 Manofsky 83-64 X 1,985,820 1 2/34 Dodge et al. 8364 2,070,537 2/ 37 Matthews 83-311 X 2,679,307 5/54 Koch 8364 X 2,733,063 1/56 Corey 27157 2,750,188 6/56 Rouan 27l56 ANDREW R. JUHASZ, Primary Examiner.

WILLIAM W. DYER, ]R., Examiner. 

1. IN APPARATUS FOR TRANSVERSELY CUTTING PAPER AND BOARD MATERIAL INTO SUCCESSIVE SHEETS AND COMPRISING TWO COACTING ROTARY KNIVES ARRANGED TO CUT TRANSVERSELY MATERIAL FED THERETO TO DIVIDE SAME INTO SUCCESSIVE SHEETS, FEED MEANS FOR FEEDING SAID MATERIAL TO SAID KNIVES, AND GUIDE PLATE IMMEDIATELY DOWNSTREAM OF SAID KNIVES FOR RECEIVING AND GUIDING SHEETS ISSUING FROM SAID KNIVES, SAID GUIDE PLATE BEING TRAVERSED BY SAID SHEETS ISSUING FROM SAID KNIVES AND HAVING A LEADING EDGE CLOSELY ADJACENT TO SAID KNIVES THE IMPROVEMENT COMPRISING A TRANSVERSE PIVOT MEANS, MEANS SUPPORTING SAID GUIDE PLATE FROM SAID PIVOT MEANS, SAID GUIDE PLATE HAVING A NORMAL POSITION IN WHICH SAID LEADING EDGE LIES BELOW THE NORMAL PATH OF SAID SHEETS ISSUING FROM SAID KNIVES AND BEING MOVABLE AWAY FROM SAID NORMAL POSITION IN A DOWNSTREAM DIRECTION BY PIVOTING ABOUT SAID PIVOT MEANS, MEANS BIASING SAID GUIDE PLATE INTO SAID NORMAL POSITION, AND A CONTROL SYSTEM FOR SAID FEED MEANS, SAID CONTROL SYSTEM INCLUDING AN ELEMENT RESPONSIVE TO MOVEMENT OF SAID GUIDE PLATE AWAY FROM SAID NORMAL POSITION AND OPERATIVELY RELATED WITH SAID FEED MEANS TO DISENGAGE SAID FEED MEANS ON OCCURRENCE OF SUCH MOVEMENT. 